Costumes, Cooking, and Crafts

Pattern Review: My Image M1003

When my sister came home from Europe for the holidays, she brought back a stack of new sewing magazines, with the (at the time) full set of My Image among them. I am excited by a number of the patterns in the My Image magazines, but decided that the first thing I wanted to sew up would be the long cardigan – style M1003

MI-M1003 from the Fall/Winter 2010-2011 Issue

I didn’t really have any cardigan style tops, and I thought this would be a great basic style. I decided to use this as the “anything from my sewing plans” item from my year-long sewing challenge, since a cardigan top seems like it should be one of the wardrobe staples. Though I am a bit annoyed with myself for mismatched shoulder seams, I am fairly pleased with my results:

This picture is closer to the real color of the fabric

Back is just one big piece

Love the pockets, cuffs, and buttons!

And here is my official review:

Pattern description: Long cardigan style top with pockets.

Pattern sizing: My Image sizes 36-44. The sizing doesn’t exactly correspond to Burda sizes, but it seems like most people choose their Burda size and get decent results. So I made a size 40, grading out to a size 42 at the lower back. There was plenty of ease, so if I wanted a tighter fit I could probably go to a smaller size in the future, though I actually really like the relaxed fit – it is very cozy.

Were the instructions easy to follow? Ummm, no. Not so much. Actually, I found the translation to be rather useless, so I made the entire thing without the instructions. And I usually don’t have too many problems with the Burda instructions, so that gives a hint on how useless these instructions were. Basically I made the pockets and attached them to the front, sewed the cuff bands on to the sleeve hems, and sewed the facing bands together at the shoulder and front seams. Then I sewed the front to back at the shoulders, set the sleeve in flat, sewed the sleeve and side as one long seam, and attached the facing to the front opening. And then I made a hem and attached the buttons. Really, it was very very simple and fast.

Did it look like the photo/drawing when you were done with it? Yes, I think so. I made mine about an inch shorter than in the photos, but overall it looked quite similar.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? Well, I like the long style, the pockets, and the bands to finish off the sleeve cuffs. This pattern includes buttons, but not buttonholes, which is a bit odd. I would have added buttonholes, but my sewing machine hated my fabric (though my serger loved it…), so I decided to leave them of as well. I didn’t like the instructions, but I did like that this was so easy to put together that I didn’t need them. I was a bit vexed at myself because I put the front facing on a bit crooked (I was a bit rushed at the end and didn’t notice until after I had finished with the serger), but the pattern itself is actually drafted quite nicely, and if I had been more careful it would have been a perfectly finished project.

Fabric used: Poly/cotton ribbed knit. I found it in a bargain bin, so I didn’t realize it was only 45″ wide! It was a bit of a puzzel getting all the pieces to fit into 2 yards (the pattern calls for 2 yards of 60″ fabric) but at least I didn’t produce a lot of waste! I had to have an extra seam on the back collar piece to get all of my pieces to fit, and my sewing machine really hated this stuff, but otherwise I think it looks pretty nice.

Pattern alterations or design changed you made: None, really. Other than adding a seam to the back facing because of fabric limitations.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? Yes, I think I would sew this again! I really like the style, and I want to make one that is finished perfectly. If I can find a warm wooly knit I would love to make another cardigan. I would also highly recommend this pattern, but only to someone who isn’t entirely dependent on the instructions.

Conclusion: Great pattern! Love the fit and style, very comfortable. Very easy to sew together, and it would look great on a lot of different body shapes. This was my first My Image pattern, but now I really want to try some of their other styles. Highly recommended.

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5 thoughts on “Pattern Review: My Image M1003”

I love seeing reviews of My Image patterns because there aren't many of them in the blogospere. I think it may be your fault that I bought all the back issues of the magazine, and subscribed, but I am very happy with it. I have noticed that the english language instructions get better and better with each issue. I made a muslin of 1152 this week (the long-sleeved, cowl-neck top that has been reviewed a few times) and was very happy with it. I have the proper fabric cut out waiting to be sewn.

I love your cardigan. It looks so cosy.

I wonder if it was really the fabric that your machine didn't like. It could have been the thread. My previous machine was very happy even if I used really cheap thread, and my current machine is the same – except when sewing a stretch fabric. When sewing anything with a stretch I have to use Coats thread, and can occasionally get away with Gutermann, but never anything else. I spent nearly an hour trying to get my machine to sew the muslin for the 1152 mentioned above, until I remembered this. Once I changed thread – no problems.

And, after typing the above, I remembered that you sew skating costumes so you are used to dealing with stretch fabrics so I am probably saying nothing you don't already know. I'm leaving it in there just in case someone reads this who has the same problems with their machine as I do and changing thread is a simple solution. (And I've had too much wine and tend to ramble :))

Haha, love to read the rambles, its fun! And, yeah, my machine seem to like Guttermann thread the best for any project, though I can sometimes use Coats (although I have noticed any purple-ish colored coats thread always has issues on my machine? Perhaps the dye process makes it weak or slubby or something? Or maybe I just have a bad batch…) Anyway, yeah, my machine usually does ok on the lycra/spandex type fabric, but for some reason it just didn't like this ribbed knit – I think it probably has a higher polyester content and in hindsight maybe I should have used a universal or sharp needle instead of a ballpoint/stretch. I just had in my brain stretch fabric = stretch needle, but this fabric might have been the exception to that rule…

Thanks! Last week I was very not busy, and I had a very clear weekend, so I got a LOT of sewing done. Of course, it was a lot of fairly simple knit projects with minimal fitting/no muslins, but still a lot got done. Just didn't get to review them all right away…

Right now I am doing a lot of muslins in leftover skating fabric that would cause a headache to anyone looking (let's just say lots of garish floral prints mixed together), so I don't expect a lot of new finished garments for a while. And I got some people at skating who want me to alter some costumes for them (very minor, but still) so for the next while I really won't be doing a lot of me sewing.

I guess your machine just hates purple 🙂 I forgot the needle thing – sometimes a sharp, sometimes a ballpoint, sometimes a stretch. I occasionally wonder why I even bother sewing when the machine is so determined to make me tear my hair out.